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Drunk Driving Charge Outside MADD Meeting

SALISBURY — A Snow Hill man was arrested on drunk-driving charges this week after driving another chronic offender to a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim impact meeting in Salisbury.

Around 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, a Wicomico County Sheriff’s deputy was at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury participating in a MADD victim impact panel meeting. Repeat drunk-driving offenders are often required to attend victim impact panel meetings as part of their sentence in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the effects of their actions on others.

The deputy observed that an individual, later identified as Alvin Ray Powell, 66, of Snow Hill, had approached the sign-in table at the meeting and not only appeared to be visibly intoxicated, but gave off an overwhelming odor of alcohol. The officer began to investigate the circumstances of Powell’s arrival at the meeting and learned he had given another individual, identified as Jason T. Lynch, 34, of Snow Hill, a ride to the event he was required to attend as the result of a recent DWI conviction in Worcester County.

In May, Lynch was arrested for driving while impaired on northbound Route 113 near Shad Landing Rd. In August, Lynch was found guilty and was sentenced to one year in jail with all but four months suspended and was also fined $400 and placed on supervised probation. For Lynch, the latest DWI conviction continued a trend dating back over a decade.

In July 2002, Lynch was found guilty of driving while impaired and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to court records. In April 2003, Lynch was found guilty of driving under the influence and was sentenced to 60 days. Before his most recent arrest last May, Lynch was found guilty of driving while impaired in August 2012.

On Monday, the deputy found Lynch in the MADD victim impact panel meeting and found him to be intoxicated. The deputy then went to the vehicle Powell had driven to the meeting and found Ronald T. Lynch, 66, of Snow Hill, in the back seat with an open container of beer. Also discovered was a cooler full of beer.

After determining Powell had driven, the deputy administered sobriety field tests. Powell was arrested for driving under the influence. During processing, Powell submitted to a breath-alcohol test that measured .15, or nearly twice the legal limit. Powell, along with Jason and Ronald Lynch, were charged on citations.